


One who stays one who goes

by SrebrnaFH



Series: Double Pride Double Trouble - series [13]
Category: Das doppelte Lottchen | Lottie and Lisa - Erich Kästner, Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: Army, Burns, F/M, Family, Injury, Pemberley, Pregnancy, Scars, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29698206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SrebrnaFH/pseuds/SrebrnaFH
Summary: ...And now, Mina Darcy — Wilhelmina Charlotte Darcy — had gotten married in a surprisingly pastoral atmosphere, at the end of summer, under a Harvest Moon, and there was this certain feeling of homey, countryside, relaxed happiness in the air that accompanied the whole thing...
Relationships: Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy, OC - Mina Bennet/OC - Teddy Strickland, OC - Rose Darcy/OC - Andrew de Bourgh
Series: Double Pride Double Trouble - series [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1273559
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	One who stays one who goes

**Author's Note:**

> This is the last story for Teddy and Mina, and Rose and André.
> 
> There will be one more after that, an overview of a kind, focusing on an entirely different member of the family.

_It wasn't a very opulent wedding, but that seemed to be something of a theme with the Pemberley family, despite their widely known good financial situation. Miss Bennet (as was) and Mister Darcy had got married in a relatively low-key Town Hall ceremony and then had a wedding dinner with their nearest families only in attendance. Miss Darcy and Miss Yang had just signed the registry without any fuss and then had the "scandalous" Midsummer ceremony down by the lake. That particular event was still talked about in the more gossipy parlours of Lambton and the neighbourhood; even after the pair had had two children and had opened a small music and voice school in town, giving employment to several professionals in that area._

_And now, Mina Darcy — Wilhelmina Charlotte Darcy — had gotten married in a surprisingly pastoral atmosphere, at the end of summer, under a Harvest Moon, and there was this certain feeling of homey, countryside, relaxed happiness in the air that accompanied the whole thing._

_There was Alex Darcy, who had served as the ring bearer, and a bevvy of "little cousins" in powder blue and yellow dresses as the bridesmaids. There was Theresa Strickland in her sleek new pantsuit, as the only bridesmaid not in a dress (and that had been a mini-scandal all by itself). There were suits, and uniforms, and a variety of other male dress, on men of every age and size, from Jim Bennet and Johnny Bingley (who were at that point definitely up to no good under one of the tables) to the tired and rather frail-looking Henry Fitzwilliam, Lord of Matlock, residing in a comfortable armchair placed next to a large space heater, accompanied by his wife and other representatives of the family elders._

_The mother of the bride, not shedding her preferred palette of autumn colours, was resplendent in deep blood orange tones and crimsons, and on any other occasion, had it been a wedding party in any other place, she would have looked like a scarlet cardinal between the greys and toned colours of common cranes._

_On that day, however, there were so many beautifully colourful people present that even the little bright flame that was Elizabeth Darcy was not unique, and that included the bride. Miss Darcy had, eschewing the traditional whites, egg-shells or cremes of wedding dresses, clad herself in muted teal that complimented the colours worn by her husband, causing quite an excitement among the witnesses who had seen the pair exiting the Town Hall that morning._

_Some strangers called the Darcys overly proud, or prone to throwing money at things, or they pointed out the investments of William Darcy as shrewd and calculated, but nobody in the area would listen to a word said against the family. There was money, obviously, put into getting all this revelry set up, but there was none of the ostentatiousness that was so annoyingly common for people from a similar social group (that is, moneyed landowners)._

_There was no parade of shallow celebrities or overblown decorations in a showy location in London. Everything was done as "small-town" as it was possible, considering the number of guests hosted._

_The grounds were decorated, the tables full of the estate produce, wine (minimal amounts of) set up in a cool corner, sweets (baked by the bride's mother and aunts, and the bride herself) heaped high on serving plates and, to the joy of the children in attendance, a small chocolate fountain was displayed on a well-secured table. Cider, perry and mead prevailed among the beverages, all of them locally produced or sourced from nearby estates._

_Nothing there was artificial or formal, the decorations were tasteful and natural, and, to all appearance, it was the best place to live on this planet._

_— From the private notes of Adele Bennet, 18/09/2027._

(Adele had never finished that gossip column piece she had been considering, but it was sure fun to try her skills at something lighter than her normal socioeconomic analyses or interviews with people who thought she had no way to fact-check their self-aggrandising bullshit)

((she had, however, included parts of these descriptions and her personal remarks on the topic in a longer essay: "Billionaires aren't baby-eating monsters, but we still shouldn't depend on them for financial salvation"; it had garnered a certain amount of attention in the economical journalism community and given her a boost she needed to get her next job))

####

The smell of cut grass and sweetness of hay wafted over the gathering - the last cut of the season slowly drying in well-planned (and fenced-off) heaps; freshly picked September apples added their own signature to the perfume of the evening, together with the coolness coming from over the lake and the slight bitterness of the first fallen leaves. On that last Saturday of summer, it was quite obvious that the change of the seasons was upon them, and it was a lucky estate that had people managing it adequately and making sure that everyone and everything was provided for, taken care of and properly prepared for the chills that would soon come.

Yet, for the time being, the evening was warm, the people were enjoying themselves and everyone was as relaxed as they could be. There were two pre-teen boys under one of the far tables, devouring pieces of cake they had probably filched from the table when their parents took their eyes off them for a moment. A group of children was dancing in the middle of the stage, jumping around the sparse adults who were trying heroically to stick to the rhythm. Other than a subdued melody, all one could hear were conversations, chirping of some overexcited chicken that had escaped the "farm" side of the gardens, and laughter.

Teddy sighed, straightened his tie, and tried not to look too uncomfortable, lest he attract the attention he didn't really wish for at the moment.

"You look like a man awaiting being tortured. I thought that was this morning?" Rose appeared suddenly by his elbow, a glass of wine in her fingers. "Want some?"

He just shook his head. He needed to be in full control of his body - as much as it was possible at that moment. He would need all the bloody sobriety and awareness he could manage.

"Calm down, Strickland, and stop looking like a jumpy gate crasher. It's not like you are not supposed to be here. Nobody is going to throw _you_ out. You didn't sneak in around the guards or in a car trunk, for chrissake."

He stopped his hand before it reached his face. He had to get rid of that reflex.

"But Mina—"

"If she didn't want to go through with this, she wouldn't have. If she had any doubts at all about doing this, we all wouldn't be here. Try to relax and enjoy it. At least there will be no humiliating games in the middle of the night, and no weird shenanigans until the wee hours of the morning. Your lovely little sister and I went around and threatened every potential troublemaker."

He sipped his water.

Reese and Rose had been a godsend. Reese especially, as Rose had been working like crazy in the gardens and on the city park draft, when he and Mina signed up to get married with only three months to plan and set up everything - and all of it had landed on Mina's slim shoulders since he had been in some isolated place in — Ghana? Or was it—

"Teddy? You OK?"

He looked up — at Rose — at his _sister-in-law_ — and inhaled spasmodically.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. No shenanigans, perfect. Examples I've heard of were odd, to say the least."

"Yeah, like, no. _My_ little sister doesn't deserve this kind of crap. And neither do you. Teddy—"

He sighed and shook his head. He was OK. Mostly. Probably. He would be, at some point — he would be himself again. If only he could regain the old easiness, get back to being _Teddy_ , instead of that weird—

"Thank you," he caught Rose's hand gracelessly and pressed a kiss to it, unable to find a better expression to what he wanted to convey. "Thank you for being there for her."

"She's my sister. And now you are my brother. I would do _anything_ for you two."

He squeezed his eyes shut to stave off the tears.

"And anyway, a lot of that was Reese. She and Thomas did all the names and addresses and stuff on your side of the family. Gift coordination, too. You don't even want to know what kinds of weird stuff people would give as a wedding gift. She saved you from receiving a wagonload of truly astonishing crap."

"Yeah, Mina told me. My mother—" he shrugged - again, lacking the words he needed to communicate his disappointment. "Reese has the best people skills of us all, I think, which is good because she got all of them somewhat in line—"

He bravely didn't look at the other end of the table, where his parents were sitting with some of his older relatives - father's face drawn and tired, mother still "in a snit" as Reese had put it.

"Everyone adores her. And she can afford to be a little rebel today because Mina's opinion of her bridesmaids is what counts, not some huffy aunt's."

"She says she's going to wear the suit for the next school formal and see what happens."

"Good for her. Now— Will you be OK on your own for a moment? I need to go inside..."

"Go, go. Thank you, Rose. I—"

He still felt the cool press of her lips on his cheek even as she was climbing the side stairs to the house.

People were milling about, some trying to use the occasion for business purposes, some looking for a quiet corner - many of them getting strategically lost in the gardens, not necessarily unaccompanied, some simply watching and gossiping, just as during any other large family gathering. Despite a certain amount of tension between the parents of the bride and the parents of the groom, everyone else was having, he hoped, quite a good time.

He rolled his glass on the tablecloth in front of him, watching the way his water lost its bubbles slowly.

He was warm. Too warm, suddenly.

He was wearing his uniform and it dawned on him that it had been an abysmally idiotic idea. He had been happy when General Fitzwilliam informed him he was entitled to use it for such an occasion, and it had seemed appropriate at the time, but now he was slowly coming to the realisation that it had been, in fact, a very poor choice.

In fact, it had all been one huge mistake, a clusterfuck of bad choices, one of them being himself. He was pretty sure someone would soon step up to him and explain that it had all been a miscalculation and that, in fact, he didn't fit into that society of well-dressed, wealthy landowners and that a small-town civil construction engineer was too much below their station—

He looked up as the music changed.

Kids have grouped to the side, making some weird moves of their own, and that gave him a perfect view of _her_. She was dancing with her godfather.

Because Teddy had been an idiot, and now there was no dancing for him.

She would waltz around the floor with her father next, according to the plans they both had drafted so long ago, before Teddy had gone and—

He shook his head, trying not to be too jealous of everyone who would be dancing with Mina, then tipped it back to the seat headrest and did a little breathing exercise. In, out. In, out. It's easy, Strickland, you ninny. Just bloody breathe. Don't show her in how much pain you are—

"Teddy?"

 _Shit_.

General Fitzwilliam was looming over him, as Mina's fingers carded through Teddy's hair, slowly and cautiously.

"Is it the leg?" she more stated than asked.

"N-n—" he looked up, into her golden eyes. "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me? You could have told Rose and she would have fetched me... You, you _resilient_ man."

He reached up and touched her cheek.

"It's your day to shine, Starlight. I wouldn't take this away from you."

He pulled her hand up to his lips, bestowing a small kiss on each work-worn knuckle.

"It's _our_ day, silly."

"Aaand this is the cue for me to look for my husband—"

Both newlyweds looked sharply up at their godfather-and-or-former-commander.

"You are being disgustingly cute," Richard Fitzwilliam explained with a small, overly theatrical shudder.

"Pot, kettle," she mumbled.

But quietly.

And soon she was not talking at all anymore, her mouth very busy kissing Teddy's, keeping at it, teasing, and pressing herself closer to him, until they were both quite breathless. She only stopped to look him deeply in the eyes and whisper, "I love you" and then promptly cuddle even closer. Good thing he was sitting on a garden equivalent of a sofa, and not just on a chair - she had space to cuddle up without risking them toppling over.

She traced the hair-thin line running down the side of his face, barely touching it with her fingertips, avoiding the already mostly healed burn on his temple and cheek.

"How are you feeling?" she whispered. "This time honestly, Lieutenant Strickland."

"I—" he heaved a sigh. "I'm tired. And kinda cranky. Some of the burn scars still itch like crazy, my ribs are still smarting, I can't lift anything with my left hand without it shaking and pulling at the scars, the leg aches and, well—" he nodded to where several pairs were whirling around to the rhythm.

"Oh, Teddy, no, don't—"

"Starlight, I wanted to—"

"Theodore Strickland," she grunted, sitting up properly, avoiding the cast keeping his fractured calf stable. "Shut up and hold me. I will dance with you when this thing is gone," she tapped the cast. "And as for today, I'm going to spend the rest of the evening _right here_."

"W-what?"

"I've told Dad that for a groom, you seemed a bit too lonely and despondent and that I'm not going to stick to tradition or plan or whatever that would make you _that_ sad on your own wedding day. He has way too many people vying for his attention anyway - and he is yet to dance with Mom - and he told me to stay right here. And since I am an obedient, proper daughter—" she fluttered her eyelashes and grinned.

"But— we planned—"

"No, this was what you accepted, because _I_ had planned it. With Reese and Rose. When my fiancé was out there, helping to build a bridge that has been blown up in the middle of being built — with him on it! Plans. Change. Yes, we had a lovey-dovey idea of doing all the proper dances and then maybe some less proper ones, but you know very well, mister, what they say about plans."

Yeah. They had had all these plans. He was supposed to be on a two-week leave, to get married and go for a little trip with his new wife, and they were supposed to dance at their wedding, and go for long walks and maybe do a lot of other physically demanding things, too. He was supposed to be the tall, dependable, resolute, and capable groom, carrying Mina over the threshold and whatnot, as they had agreed on, giggling at each other on Skype, over these late evenings in July. Because the place he had been sent to was not supposed to be an active war zone. Quite the opposite. He had been assigned to a humanitarian relief unit stationed in a small town somewhere he had still not been able to learn the spelling of, and put to work with the local building crew. The provisional bridge they had set up in the first weeks of his tour was used heavily by the local population, so work on a permanent solution was commenced.

And then was promptly put on hold, when a well-placed homemade explosive removed the middle pillar of the construction, taking with it more than half of the existing road surface, two surveyors and one engineer.

One young military engineer.

Teddy squirmed in his seat, trying to take his mind off these memories. The scars _itched_ when he thought of the explosion. Not to mention other effects the experience had had on him.

Because, guess what, when you are just next to an IED going off, the results might not be pleasant. The surveyors had escaped with some bruises and scratches, but Teddy— He came home as much less than what Mina deserved. Burns were slowly healing, but he'd never be able to forget they were there. Mina would never— she'd see them every day. She'd witness, day after day, the proof that he wasn't the same, he wasn't the man he had been before he left— 

His fingers spasmed in the teal and gold of Mina's silk gown.

"This is what you planned, and you should have it," his hands however went down to her waist and pulled her closer to him, belying his own words.

"But it was all just— just—" she sighed and buried her face in his neck, breathing him in. "It doesn't make sense to stick to them when you aren't able to participate."

"But I'm happy just looking at you," he murmured into her hair. "You should be having fun, Starlight."

"I'm having fun right now," she whispered, carefully cuddling closer.

"You wanted to dance at your wedding," he protested weakly.

"And I did. Uncle Richard is a very good dancer, so it was nice, but he wanted to sit down with Evan and Betty now. He claims he's feeling old because his goddaughter is getting married."

He snorted softly.

"Old, him? His own unit is kind of doubtful he is even _mortal_. He apparently hadn't slowed down since he had been a young lieutenant...!"

"Well, _he_ walked me back here and told me to check up on your battle readiness. Not sure _what_ he meant exactly, but..."

Teddy felt a heat of a blush creeping up his neck. His wife cuddling even closer to him, her head pillowed on his chest, fully visible to all guests, did not help at all.

"Now— How do you feel as a married man, Lieutenant Strickland?"

He sighed, pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head.

"I'm still not sure how it is possible that we were allowed to do it. I mean— Are we actually adults? Who would allow us to move out and just live on our own? Are we supposed to make all our decisions by ourselves now? Isn't there some kind of test to confirm that you are ready to be a proper grownup? We've waited all this time to get married and now I don't even know how we are supposed to know what has changed. How—"

Mina's lips muffled his little rant and just for a moment, he focused on kissing his wife rather thoroughly, and on nothing else.

"You two are disgusting," Evelyn said with a feeling, from her place across and two seats down. "I mean, seriously—"

"Get lost, Evelynosaurus," Rose pulled the interfering little cousin away. "They just got married. They are allowed to kiss as much as they want."

"It's still nasty. All that _saliva_."

"Dear heavens, _Evelyn_!"

"Thank you, Aunt Jane. Could you keep her away from them...?"

Teddy ignored the rest of the exchange, focusing instead on the warm weight of Mina perched on his good knee. Sometimes he felt it was beneficial to have a girlfriend that was so much smaller than him - easier to pick up and hold, or to sit just like this—

A wife.

_He had a wife._

_Mina Darcy was his wife..._

He hid his face in her hair and, for a moment, simply _existed_ in the cloud of verbena perfume she had recently discovered and promptly fallen in love with.

"I thought she was fifteen," he murmured when they were alone again.

"She is, but unlike Yola, or indeed me at that age, she had not yet decided boys were at all interesting. Or girls, for that matter. She is mostly focused on schoolwork _and_ being a pest about her sisters' social life."

"Jackie must be delighted."

"Jackie has been calling me every other day, ranting about Evelyn, Bella, grandma Bennet and everyone who tries to criticise her and Amalie."

"Why does she remain in contact with your grandma at all? I thought there was that thing—"

"Jackie went through a short 'explore family history' phase and since her Bingley aunts are practically not speaking to Uncle Charles, she tried the Bennet side. Grandma was only waiting for someone to approach her with questions about _anything_ related to family and immediately tried to get Jackie involved in all kinds of stuff she does in the local community. That is, until Jackie brought Amalie along and they held hands at the church fete."

"The horror."

"Grandma almost fainted and now Jackie is receiving helpful advice about finding the right boy almost all the time."

"And then at home, Evelyn is following them and making gagging noises, I suppose."

"In the bullseye. Anyway— Jackie is having a tough time recently."

"The price of studying when living at home. Emotional cost, instead of pure cash."

"Well, she and Amalie are looking for a place to rent— Oh, hi, Dad."

Mister Darcy was, in fact, taking a seat in front of the two of them, placing a thick file on the table, between the plates. He took off his glasses and carefully slid them into his pocket. Looked at them in silence.

Nodded.

"I have something I need to tell you two. It's not a secret, or anything, but since it pertains to you in particular, you deserve to learn it first. Effective from the first of October, I am beginning the process of stepping down as the owner and manager of the Pemberley estate, as a company. And I'm not just hijacking your wedding to make some kind of a company announcement for myself. Mina—" Mister Darcy paused, face serious like never before. "I am handing this seat over to the only person who can be trusted to take adequate care of the house, the home farm and all the related initiatives, the foundation and the non-profits."

They were both silent, waiting, but Mina was now shivering and breathing much too quickly. He gathered her closer, rubbing her arm for warmth.

"I needed to be sure that whoever takes over that position will love this place as much as I did when I inherited it— or more."

Rose, off to the left, in the corner of Teddy's vision, smiled and shook her head.

"And there is, in fact, no doubt who is the only qualified and willing candidate. The same person who had quietly and not so quietly become my right hand in all these undertakings. We've been working together for the last eight years, even before you had finished high school, in fact. Mina— The papers are here, made out to your new name. If you sign them— From the new year, first of January 2028, you will become the full and sole owner of the Pemberley Estate."

Teddy was— floored. He knew that Mister Darcy — _Dad_ , as he had been reminded several times — had been preparing something big, something that would leave them all quite shaken — that much was easy to guess from the cryptic questions, asking for the details of Teddy's Army contract and plans—

Mina was hyperventilating.

"Dad! I thought— I thought we were just talking about a— a _promotion_! A new, big project! Or— maybe— Not— not _something like this_!"

Oh.

So, Mina hadn't known either.

"Well, ducky, since you've already done an excellent job under my command, I wanted you to be able to manage on your own, without having to ask your old father for a signature on every tiniest piece of paper."

"B-but that's too much! I mean, we've just rented a flat in town—!"

"I don't expect you two to _live_ in that chilly pile of stone, kitten. I want to make sure that pile is there when the next generations come along, and you are the best one to do it. You are, in fact, already doing it. I know that we've set up the direction together, and I'm not leaving you to flounder about alone, but you are the one who is going to get us there."

Everyone in the nearest seats was silent, watching in turns Mister Darcy and Mina, as she sat, tightly holding onto Teddy’s arm, eyes wide and shimmering with tears.

And then she nodded, reaching out to shake her father's hand. Like a proper farmer's daughter.

"Friends. Family. I give you Wilhelmina Darcy-Strickland, the mistress of Pemberley."

Still holding her hand, her father stood up, pulling her with, and Teddy pushed Mina up, helping her to stand, because she was shaking, her free hand clenching his shoulder like a vice.

She turned to him, amongst the applause from the nearest seats, slowly spreading through the gathering as people passed the not-so-surprising news along.

"Teddy? Did you know about this?"

"I hadn't the faintest idea that he was going to do something like _that_ — your father knows I'd have blabbed the moment I saw you. He must have had all of this set up with your Mom and the lawyers... Starlight, shh. You'll do OK. You _are_ already doing it, just like your Dad said."

He pulled her down, into a kiss, and she went along, unresisting, until she rested her forehead against his.

"How are _you_ so rational about this?"

"Well, it might be that I'm still in shock and will start panicking once my brain catches up and tells me how I'm actually supposed to react—"

He saw her little smile and kissed her again.

Mina took a shuddering breath and straightened up, pulling the shoulder strap of her dress back in place and drawing her shoulders back. Putting herself in order.

"Will you be OK with this?"

He frowned.

"With what exactly?"

"Me. Being the owner. Landowner. Landlady, whatever. Estate holder. Manager."

Teddy gathered her closer, gazing into her eyes steadily.

"Why would I not? Why would I not be OK with something that makes you happy and fulfilled?"

"I'll be keeping weird hours. Getting phone calls at all hours of day and night. I'll be busy during summer vacations. Forget to sleep. I'll be stressing over stuff—"

He caught her hand and kissed the palm cut with scars earned when climbing the scaffolding on the front of the Pemberley manor.

"We both tend to be awake all night if the situation requires it. You get these calls anyway already. We'll be taking time off in October when most of the harvest work is done. We could make a celebration out of your birthday, take a week or two and go somewhere nice and devoid of tourists."

"You have an answer to everything!" she mock-complained.

Teddy was painfully conscious of the fact that everyone was watching them like hawks, but he couldn't stop himself from nuzzling into her shoulder and holding her closer.

"That's the military training, Starlight. We have to look like we know what we are doing. Now—" he lowered his voice to a whisper, "what would you say if I suggested making an announcement of our own, maybe in an even more private setting? Considering your father alluded to the 'next generations' thing?"

"Three months mark passed," she murmured softly. "Maybe it's time."

####

"Has anyone asked you yet?"

Rose frowned at Aunt Jane and shrugged.

"Asked me what? To dance?"

"The traditional wedding question. 'When is it going to be your turn?' I mean, it's something Mary and Kitty had been tortured with on every occasion... Starting with my wedding. And we do have enough cousins to make this an annoyance."

Something very much like a snort could have been heard from where she knew André was hiding. Probably.

"Well— That's not something I'd be able to say."

Aunt Kitty sighed theatrically and made a face of an elderly auntie looking short-sightedly at a young relative.

"Had that boy not gathered his courage to make an honest woman out of you finally?" she squeaked, in a good imitation of an octogenarian.

André choked.

Rose sipped her water, smiling coolly.

"He tried. But you won't catch me dead being called 'Mrs de Bourgh'. However much I respect André's mother, _I_ have my limits."

She kept her face straight and her aunts took the hint, laughed a bit and finally left her alone, allowing her to hide in the small alcove on the side of the raspberry thicket, curtained from the lane by a thick wall of grapevine.

"So, you keep just stringing me along, you cruel woman—" André whispered into her neck. "And _you_ never planned to make an honest man out of _me_?"

"Have you met yourself? I already have a job, so, no, I think we can continue just as we are, thank you very much. Not making anyone any more proper and correct then they are now."

"Ah, but—" he trailed off, hands sliding down the bodice of her dress, to her hips and then meeting in the middle. "What about— Well, not everyone has to change their surname. I know that most women do, but hey, I'm not hung up on any kinds of traditions. Except maybe for one."

She finished her water and surveyed him with careful attention.

"I would like to have one particular little person bear my name. So, what do you think, Miss Darcy? Will you marry a de Bourgh? Soon enough for that kid of ours not to be a flower girl on our own wedding?"

####

Spoiler: They managed _that_ much. At the age of three months, little Willa de Bourgh slept through the entire ceremony of her parents getting married in the gardens of Pemberley, held by her maternal grandfather in a fashionable wrap-around infant holder. However, her twelve days older cousin, Elise Strickland, cried for twenty minutes straight and had to be carried back to the house by her mother.

####

"Shh. Yer' Miss Darcy, me lass, ye shoul' b'have fittingly to yer station. Let your aunt get married, ducky."

"Miss Strickland, rather."

"Theodore, she might be Elise Strickland, but she is very definitely a Miss Darcy. It's like peerage by now."

"Is there a chance for me to reconsider getting involved in all this aristocratic nonsense?"

"Not at all. Now, take the little lady of the manor from me, Lieutenant. She needs all the contact with her Daddy she can get. Considering."

"Mina— I—"

"Teddy, I'm not happy about you leaving, but we knew what we were getting into when you signed that contract with the Army."

"We really didn't, not entirely," he corrected softly. "But we both have our duties, yes. And I’m well enough to be again expected to fulfil mine."

"You go and come back to us."

"And you hold the fort here."

"So that we all have a place to come back to."

Elise Strickland — Miss Darcy — watched the dust motes dancing in the beam of light filtered through the glass insert over the front door of the main Pemberley house from the safety of her father's secure hold.

The very best place to be on this planet.


End file.
